New Flint Farmers' Market to open downtown sometime in May, officials say

FLINT, MI -- The new location for the Flint Farmers' Market in the former Flint Journal printing facility at 300 E. First St. will open sometime in May, project managers say.

When in May isn't easy to predict, however.

"The inside will definitely be done in the first part of May," Karianne Martus said, one of the market's managers said.

The market's outside, so far, is a different story.

Market Manager Dick Ramsdell said that construction crews aren't able to do certain kinds of work outside until winter's lingering frost is gone.

"All I know is that when we have had to do paving, even repairing the parking lot here at the old market, the paving guys always said they couldn't do the paving until the frost laws were lifted," Ramsdell said.

And with the record low temperatures in the area this year, it's taking longer than expected for some of the outside work to be completed. Martus said they still expect the work to be complete by the end of May.

Indoors, on March 25, the noises of heaters and machinery could be heard everywhere as construction crews worked to get the place into shape. Steel studs and beams outlined the walls of the various vendors that will be in the market.

The building is two stories tall. The bottom floor will house the various vendors at the market in addition to two commercial kitchens that can be used by vendors or local entrepreneurs looking to rent them by the hour. There will also be a community area that can seat 200-300 people, depending on how seating is arranged, and a demonstration kitchen where culinary director Sean Gartland hopes to teach classes and bring in area chefs to teach as well.

"I plan on putting together a number of educational events in the demonstration kitchen," Gartland said. "It’s going to accommodate multiple people at tables around it at a counter top. It’s also a space that can be rented out for private parties, but it really is there for educational purposes."

There will be more than 45 vendors indoors, according to a release from the market, as well as 30 more outdoor vendors in an outdoor pavilion -- not yet constructed -- that will run parallel to First Street.

The upper floor is home to the market's offices as well as an outdoor terrace that runs the length of the building and faces west toward downtown Saginaw Street.

Martus said she's particularly excited about a room she's dubbed "the parlor" that leads out to the terrace. She said it's not clear just what the terrace will be used for but that it's a place where diners could grab an outdoor seat, and it could be used for special events, like wine tastings.

Also upstairs is 10,500 square feet of yet-unrented space. Martus said the space could be used for pretty much anything, whether it's a vendor or used by a company as office space. One wall of the area will look out onto a portion of the terrace with floor-to-ceiling windows with doors leading out to the terrace.

In the old market on East Boulevard Drive, many of the vendors use open spaces without walls. In the new location, many of the vendors will have spaces that operate more like brick-and-mortar stores.

Martus said they're also asking the city of Flint to shut First Street to vehicles on Saturdays between Chavez Drive and Wallenberg Street so even more vendors could set up and activities could take place.

"It would be like a street fair," she said.

Shane Dean is the owner of J. Dean's Smokehouse and is a vendor at the market. On March 25, he was touring the facility with Martus and said he was looking forward to setting up shop.

"This will be our first brick-and-mortar location, retail-wise. We've been mobile in the past," he said. "For me, it's an opportunity because of additional space. At the other place (the old Flint Farmers' Market), I couldn't build a store."

He'll also be setting up shop at an under-construction Farmers Market in Davison, where his business is based.

"We'll have the exact, same store in Davison," he said.

Two of the market's biggest current vendors, Coykendall Produce and Knob Hill Meats, announced in 2013 that they plan to move to the Davison market after the Flint market changes locations, citing concerns from customers that don't want to travel to downtown Flint and concerns over parking.

Martus said she didn't think parking would be an issue as the new market location will have more than 350 parking spaces on site as well as 250 overflow parking spaces available on Saturdays at a University of Michigan-Flint parking lot at the corner of Wallenberg Street and First Street.